“The electronic medical record has been a frustrating transition for many providers,” says Erskine. “We’re excited to demonstrate at CEMC how our scribes can not only relieve the distraction of the EMR and improve the provider’s interaction with patients but also positively affect the revenue cycle.”

According to the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, an ED scribe program improved door-to-doc time by 13 minutes and took physician satisfaction from the 62nd percentile to the 92nd percentile.

Providers who use MSS scribes also notice improvements in chart accuracy and completeness, which help meet Meaningful Use criteria imposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“Our scribes are trained to capture the patient encounter in real time,” says Erskine. “This greatly reduces or eliminates the time providers spend after their shift reviewing charts.”

Scribes also reduce instances of downcoding by capturing the full level of patient acuity. Erskine says MSS continuously tracks the performance data of their customers to fully optimize their productivity and financial outcomes with scribes.

The founders of MSS are four emergency physicians who started the program at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Today, the company serves about 100 hospitals nationwide and employs nearly 2,000 scribes. Board members Dr. Mark Richmond and Fred Brown, the former Chairman of The Joint Commission, helped establish the first guidelines for scribe use and compliance.